Much arms aid for Kyiv has been agreed, but it often arrives late or only partially. President Zelenskyj is demanding more speed. The situation on the battlefield remains difficult for the Ukrainians.
Kiev – The Ukrainian government is calling for the agreed aid agreements with the West to be implemented as quickly as possible. “The course of the war depends directly on the quality of logistics in the deliveries and the fulfillment of all promises by partners,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky in his evening video address. Weapons and equipment must arrive on time to be successful. “What is needed in September must be delivered to our troops in September.”
For two and a half years, Ukraine has been fending off a large-scale Russian invasion with Western support. Kiev has come under massive pressure after aid deliveries from the USA were halted for months due to a domestic political dispute in Washington. The Ukrainian troops were unable to hold some important and well-fortified front lines, partly because of a lack of weapons and material. So far, the General Staff in Kiev has not been able to fully stabilize the situation in the east in particular.
Heavy fighting continues in the Donetsk region
Russian troops have now moved to within a few kilometers of the city of Pokrovsk. Heavy fighting has again broken out in the area, the General Staff said in its evening situation report. The attackers are maintaining pressure on the Ukrainian positions, it said.
Pokrovsk is an important sub-objective for the Russian forces, said the commander of the Ukrainian army’s third assault brigade, Maxym Shorin. Taking the city would open up several options for the Russians. They could then try to advance further west to reach the border of Donetsk or even to neighboring Dnipropetrovsk, or turn south to gain more ground there, Shorin told the Unian news agency.
According to independent military analyst Jan Matveyev, Russian soldiers have made little progress in the Pokrovsk area recently, partly because some of their forces had already turned south towards Kurakhove. The General Staff also reported heavy fighting there in its situation report.
Missile deliveries: Kyiv summons Iranian envoy
According to reports, Russia owes its material superiority on the front not only to its own ramped-up arms industry, but also to deliveries from allies such as Iran. Due to the alleged delivery of ballistic missiles to Russia, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has now summoned the Iranian envoy. The ministry in Kiev announced that a “harsh” warning had been sent to the Iranian leadership. If the reports are confirmed, this will have “devastating and irreparable consequences” for bilateral relations.
Previously, US newspapers had reported, citing sources in Washington, that Tehran had supplied short-range ballistic missiles to Russia. Moscow has been regularly attacking targets in Ukraine with Iranian-made combat drones since autumn 2022. However, Tehran has repeatedly denied supplying weapons.
Lavrov: West does not want to negotiate honestly
Russia accused Ukraine’s supporters of dishonesty. “The West does not want to negotiate honestly,” said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after a meeting with Arab colleagues from the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh. Western heads of state clung to the initiative of Ukrainian President Zelensky, which Moscow found unacceptable. This means that the West continues to do everything to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield. One of the demands of Zelensky’s initiative is the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
In his criticism, Lavrov also addressed an initiative by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. After his words about the need for a diplomatic solution, there were hints in the German press that a solution would have to take Russian conquests into account. But it is not about territories, claimed Lavrov. “We have never wanted foreign soil, we just wanted the people who are part of the Russian world, Russian culture, Russian language, history, religion to be treated humanely, as required by international law, many human rights and minority conventions, and above all the Charter of the United Nations,” said the minister. dpa
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